Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova said she has serious doubts about whether North Macedonia’s current leadership genuinely wants the country to become a member of the European Union, speaking in an interview with bTV on Sunday about Skopje’s EU accession process.

Iotova said she could not otherwise explain what she described as the blockage being created by the authorities in North Macedonia. In her view, the issue is not one between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, but rather between North Macedonia and the European Union, given that the EU’s policy framework regarding the country was agreed back in 2022.

Asked whether European partners understand Bulgaria’s position on North Macedonia, Iotova replied with an unequivocal “yes”.

She said that during all of her meetings with European leaders and ambassadors, no one had even hinted that the EU’s policy toward North Macedonia could be revised. According to Iotova, European institutions continue to expect the country to fulfil the commitments already agreed upon as part of its accession path.

The President said she found it difficult to understand how a country’s leadership could obstruct its own citizens’ aspiration to become European citizens, adding that she saw no reasonable explanation for such an approach.

Iotova also referred to her recent meetings with North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova and Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski during the Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), which was hosted by Sofia under her patronage.

She said she had heard what she described as a startling position for the 21st century – namely, that North Macedonia’s current government does not recognize the actions and signatures of its predecessors. Iotova said she had tried to explain that such commitments are not personal undertakings of individual officeholders but obligations assumed by the state itself.

If North Macedonia truly wishes to be regarded as a predictable partner, a fundamental principle within the European Union, it should honour the commitments it has already undertaken, Iotova added.